One-of-a-kind Hamtramck Halloween tradition could end after 35 years

HAMTRAMCK — Weeks before Halloween, monsters perch on a porch in Hamtramck as the Nemeth brothers prepare for the main event.

One of the most unique Halloween displays in Metro Detroit — and likely far beyond — takes place on Lumpkin Street in Hamtramck each year.

But this year could be its last.

The three Nemeth brothers, well known by longtime Hamtramck residents, are separated by nine years in age.

Each year, they create a Halloween scene that spans the front yards of their three side-by-side homes.

It began simply enough in 1978, just some ornamental grave stones, bats and other decorations.

The brothers are now all over 50. Harry Nemeth is the youngest, William
Nemeth the eldest; the middle brother preferred not to share his name.

The Nemeths are themselves unique, three bachelors who don't drive and can be seen pushing their carts slowly through town as they run errands. They don't work and receive government assistance for disabilities.

By the early 1980s, the brothers acquired their first three mannequins, a collection that now numbers 26.

Some are wood, others plaster and one made of wax that is kept in cold storage in the Halloween off-season.

"I've got health problems, heart problems and everything else," says the
middle of three brothers. "It's taken its toll... Since '78 is a lot of years."

He said he would have stopped years ago, but continued at the urging of his younger brother.

Harry Nemeth lugs two mannequins to the porch of their home.

The brothers say some of the human-size mannequins weigh in excess of 60 pounds.

It's Friday before Halloween and the middle Nemeth brother bends over one of the first mannequins they acquired. The rigid mannequin leans like a board against the concrete ledge of of the Nemeths' porch, undoubtedly an odd sight for passersby.

An electric sander whirs.

It's plaster, "from the 1920s, even the turn of the century maybe," the scraggy-bearded middle brother says, and smooths the plaster he's used to fill cracks that have formed over time.

The mannequins are no longer dressed in the latest fashions, standing in the windows of stores on Joseph Campau. Monster masks — some scary, others odd and some cracked or ripping with age — now cover their stoic faces each Halloween.

For decades the Nemeths have amassed masks and costumes to clothe the mannequins, each dressed as their favorite supernatural creations from class B horror films released prior to 1975.

Some characters are popular — Frankenstein, Wolfman, Dracula. Others are more obscure, like Panther Woman, a character from the 1932 science fiction horror film "Island of Lost Souls," or Moth Man.

Harry Nemeth says Halloween holds a special nostalgia for him. He recalls the decorations his grandma put out each year, the fake grave stones, the plastic rats and a taxidermied bat.

She died in the 1960s and the brothers picked up the tradition a decade later.

"I wanted to do it." says Harry Nemeth, who plans to dress as Dracula this year. "They didn't want to do it. I'm even the one who came up with the idea for the mannequins."

The Nemeth homes are easy to spot, three of them in a row located on the west side of Lumpkin, south of Holbrook.

Sometimes their three beloved pint-sized Chihuahuas are spotted scuttling about the lawns.

The homes are deteriorating. One has blue tarps covering the roof. The yellow one in the middle was built by their grandfather in the 1890s, they say. It's the home the brothers grew up in, where Harry Nemeth still lives.

Most of the homes on their side of the street are gone, bought up by American Axle Manufacturing in the 1990s, the lots now left to grass.

The Nemeths refused to sell. Only one other neighbor did the same. They say some of the homes were purchased for more than $100,000, well over market value in Hamtramck.

"These are our family homes," the middle Nemeth brother says, as if no price wouls be high enough for him to sell.

Harry Nemeth sets two costumed mannequins against the front of the home — Frankenstein and Panther Woman, whose mask is cracked, dress yellowed, white shoes dirtied and nylons ripped. He looks at the movie characters he helped create with pride.

"My brothers say this is supposed to be the last year," he says. "So I don't know if we'll keep going on or not now.

"I hope so."

The Nemeth brothers say they are looking for someone to help them stage their mannequins on Halloween and look over them during the setup to ensure they are secure. Anyone interested in helping should contact the brothers at 313-874-5355.